Ex Cops vs. McDonald’s

Not-yet-super-famous indie band Ex Cops was asked to play SXSW for FREE. By McDonald’s. McDonald’s is a multi-billion dollar company. If they “don’t have the budget” to pay artists, then fuck that company.

Ex Cops did what everybody would love to say they had done in a similar situation. They wrote an open letter to McDonald’s that essentially said, “Screw you, we don’t need to get paid in ‘exposure,’ we prefer to get paid in US currency.”

That’s right. They were rock stars before they were rock stars.

That was awhile ago. South By Southwest 2015 has come and gone. I thought it was cool at the time, and it certainly put Ex Cops on MY radar. I listened to their album “Daggers” and thought it was super-cool, but I didn’t know if anybody else would really appreciate this band beyond their symbolic middle finger to corporate assholes.

You guys. I have heard this band on the radio. Not once, but TWICE in the last week.

So I guess they really didn’t need sacrifice any integrity to McDonald’s for exposure after all, because they are getting it, folks. They have more than a few catchy tracks on “Daggers” and I think the world is noticing them — for the right reasons, too. Because their music is good, not because they’ve got sass.

I want to keep this momentum going for them. Please share this all around social media. They deserve exposure and fame and all the rewards of working hard & maintaining respect for their audience.